Maple Days
Originally published March 23, 2022
We have been having a pretty exciting two weeks doing some maple sugaring and welcoming spring. Two weeks ago we checked the buckets every day, tasted sap, learned the names of the tools that we use for tapping trees and collecting syrup and talked a lot about the process of making syrup. We did a water, sap, syrup taste test. We measured 40 cups, (the ratio of sap needed to make to syrup is about 40:1.) We watched the sap boil and talked about evaporation. We tasted the sap about halfway through the boil. We read several lovely books about the cultural experience of making maple sugar, and we talked about the biology of what is going on in the tree, why it is making sap right now, and what the tree uses sap for; (making buds and leaves.) On Thursday we made pancakes and maple syrup over the fire!
Last week we welcomed spring with our equinox celebration on Monday night. We had spent the morning working in the garden and the greenhouse, and that evening we sang together, ate maple candies, planted seeds and welcomed the coming warmth and colors by decorated each other with holi colors made by Seher and her grandmother. The rest of the week we looked for signs of spring. We saw and heard birds singing, found buds and little tree flowers, watched the ice completely thaw off the pond and heard the river rushing. We tested our knowledge of syrup making by reading and acting out Curious George Makes Maple Syrup. Thursday we read Sugar, White Snow and Evergreens, a maple season book of colors, and made springtime rainbows and finished off the previous week's sap into maple candies.
Maple season isn't completely over yet, but next week we begin our unit on amphibians! It doesn't feel logical to equate this frozen and thawing time of year with much cold blooded animal activity, but I have been hearing tree frogs on warm mornings, and have spotted salamanders in some woods ponds recently. We should start hearing spring peepers any evening now. Amphibians are mating and laying eggs as soon as the ice is out, and starting now through April is a great time to find frog and salamander eggs, tadpoles, and to witness amphibian metamorphosis. We will be checking out the pond on our school property in hopes of finding some frog eggs to bring into the classroom and watch their development. And we are planning another Field Trip! Mark your calendars, on Thursday, April 8th we will be spending the morning at Equinox Pond, in the Equinox Preserve. All family members are welcome, and we will be hoping to get some parent volunteers to help with our pond explorations that day.
The weather is having a painful regression from springlike temps this week, and Monday will be bitterly cold with a high of 25 so please dress and prep accordingly. Tuesday will be cold as well, with highs in the low 30s, and every morning this week will be quite chilly, in the teens. We may need to begin the day inside on Monday and Tuesday.
Early spring is a testing time in New England, where conditions strain our physical and mental health. There are lots of nasty viruses making their way around the community right now. My family, and much of the town it seems, has had a bad, fevery cold, (not covid, we've tested repeatedly), and teacher friends have told me that stomach flu is going around too. Wash your hands, get lots of rest, please keep children home from school with any symptoms of illness. (And with stomach flu, children must be completely symptom free for at least 24 hours before returning to school.) If you need any at-home covid tests I still have a bunch from the state, just let me know. We'll make it though, and green, flowery spring will be here pretty soon.